Gestational Diabetes Chatter #6

[thecolourbrown]

The thought of *****ing my fingers also scared the hell out of me but I've been doing it since yesterday and its not as bad as I imagined.

Hi Yowie, sorry you have had to join us! I was a complete sook at the first appt regarding finger *****ing as well, I think as I am a pianist I thought it would hurt and I hate the idea of hurting my fingers! I haven't found it too bad though.

I did 3 reading in a row, just to test it don't ask me why lol and they were 6.8, 7.7 and 7.9. How can you get so big a difference in the same minute? That doesn’t seem right. Anyone know?

I do this too Sometimes if I get a really high result I wash my hands again and retest - I have found that can make a HUGE difference. I once got a 10.4 (ARGH!) then washed my hands again and got 6.4. Also as someone pointed out there is a margin of errror.

Csab - It is good you know in advance that your baby will go to SCN, although I am sure that is hard. I am having a cs as well and haven't been told either way, so I guess it depends on how the GD pans out for the next 4 weeks. Have you had many growth scans of bub since being on insulin? Has the GD affected your baby growth wise?

I have had a couple of great appt recently and have been released from the diabetes team. Yay! Back to my old high risk group instead. I only have to test 3 days a week now as my levels look pretty stable, and the Diab Obs I saw on Monday wasn't even fussed about the occainsonal high one. He said they look for patterns or a gradual overall increase, which mine isn't doing and said from a diabetes point of view I am a "non event"! So nice to hear positive words. I really dislike talking to the Diabetes educators now though (still have to check in once a week) and are still trying to say to me I might need insulin?? I am finding they try to argue with what the doctors have told me and are so pig headed about the whole thing. Bit daft to be told by the specialist (who is also the head of the Diabetes clinic at RWH) one thing and then the ed person tries to argue with it over the phone.
l'll stick to what the doctors are telling me in person (with all my notes in front of them) thanks!

[csab]

Yowie - Sorry couldnt help with your question, but was an interesting one, and now since you have an answer by one of the other lovely ladies it gives me something else to watch. I wasnt gain to keep testing as i thought it would stuff my book up. lol, and give them Dr's a reason to ask me more questions.

Mel - Thanks for that. I sometimes feel hypo's too, like yesterday felt like I was having one, yet when I tested it was high yet, so maybe I should test again if I get a result like that, especially if there can be a difference.

thecolourbrown - Thanks, Im sorry you have to have c/s too, I am so not looking forward to it. I have been having frquent u/s throughout this pgcy even before being diagnosed with gd. My bub is on the small side, so they are keeping an eye on the growth. I am not sure if the GD had anything to do with my bubs size or just that bubs is small, or due to a multiple of reasons, combined. Such as me needing to be on aspirin and thyroid tabs and the GD. They have said though when I mentioned to them that i thought bubs would be bigger not smaller due to GD, and they said that they are more likely to be bigger but can go the other way. I have my next u/s next week, so I guess we will have more of an idea on how bub is growing again. Bubs abdominal circumferance has been under the 5th percentile. Im so happy for you that the DR's are pleased with how everything is going with your GD, thats wonderful. Im so glad I dont need to speak with the diabetes educators, just the Dr's.

[thecolourbrown]

Csab - I'm so sorry you have been having a worrying time with your bub. We had baby issues - the baby's brain ventricles where too big (mild isolated ventriculmegaly) - was found at the 19 week morpholgy scan. Put us through hell really with fortnightly scans and potential for horrible outcomes. In the end it resolved, but has not removed the risk of downs or other chromosonal issues, or some other stuff (much less likely, but the thought it always there at the back of my head). In the end we decided to stop the contstant ultrasounds, further mri testing and we ruled out amnio as the risk factor was slightly too high of miscarriage vs. problem, it was just soooo stressful. The genetic counsellor was fantastic in helping us to make that decision. So I really feel for you, it is very stressful once an issue is found, especially if it needs a lot of monitoring.

I hope your u/s next week shows fabulous growth of the baby and puts your mind at ease somewhat. Our is on the larger side - moving between the 70th and 60th percentile. But he is also a long one, so they are saying that the GD has not affected him as he is not a fatty - just tall! I still dread ultrasounds, they have not been the happy expereince for me that other people mention. I feel like I am holding my breath the entire time.

With the cs, I have arthritis (my sacrum is damaged right where all the action would be in labour) so it is the way to go for me. But honestly I've never wanted to have a vaginal birth anyway, so I'm quite happy about it! The care at the RWH has been fantastic and I feel like I am in safe hands there. Have you had a yucky cs expereince? Do you have a set date or do you start labour and then have a cs?

[csab]

Csab - I'm so sorry you have been having a worrying time with your bub. We had baby issues - the baby's brain ventricles where too big (mild isolated ventriculmegaly) - was found at the 19 week morpholgy scan. Put us through hell really with fortnightly scans and potential for horrible outcomes. In the end it resolved, but has not removed the risk of downs or other chromosonal issues, or some other stuff (much less likely, but the thought it always there at the back of my head). In the end we decided to stop the contstant ultrasounds, further mri testing and we ruled out amnio as the risk factor was slightly too high of miscarriage vs. problem, it was just soooo stressful. The genetic counsellor was fantastic in helping us to make that decision. So I really feel for you, it is very stressful once an issue is found, especially if it needs a lot of monitoring.

I hope your u/s next week shows fabulous growth of the baby and puts your mind at ease somewhat. Our is on the larger side - moving between the 70th and 60th percentile. But he is also a long one, so they are saying that the GD has not affected him as he is not a fatty - just tall! I still dread ultrasounds, they have not been the happy expereince for me that other people mention. I feel like I am holding my breath the entire time.

With the cs, I have arthritis (my sacrum is damaged right where all the action would be in labour) so it is the way to go for me. But honestly I've never wanted to have a vaginal birth anyway, so I'm quite happy about it! The care at the RWH has been fantastic and I feel like I am in safe hands there. Have you had a yucky cs expereince? Do you have a set date or do you start labour and then have a cs?

Thankyou hun, but you have been through quite a bit with your pgcy, Im so sorry for that. I know exactly what you mean with the u/s's. I dread them really, I hold my breathe each and everytime. its horrible. That is why I decided to do a u/s in 4d but just for fun one, just so I can see bub and not worry about all the medical jargons coming into it. I wanted to feel like I can focus on bub in a good and exciting way without all the worry associated with the medical ones. Actually made me feel more excited about bubs arrival. You know how you feel like you distance yourself due to all the stress.
Did you do a NT scan at 12wks? If you did how was your results? They had me there from 10am until almost 3pm, the first sonographer wouldnt say much and when I asked if all was ok, or what was wrong, she just said Ohh I have to go and speak with the Dr's, so they can have a look. When she left I had a look and she had bubs nuchal fold with what I can remember 3.7mm, honestly I could have died. Then the Dr came in to have a look and I heard him say to himself all looked good, yet he kept checking, then he turned to me and said Ohhh I would like to use the u/s machine next door as it is better, he got up and then came back and said Ohhh cant use that one just yet as it is in use. He then said we will have to wait for the room. Then left. After about 10mins another Dr came in with him, he checked and said to the other Dr, So what was your result? He said I got 1.8 and 2.1, the new Dr said he had similar 1.9 and 2.1, so they took 2.1 as the measurement. They then proceeded to tell me that the lady had measured the NF wrong, at the wrong angle and that their result brings my risk factor to 1:408. I asked what the risk would have been with the ladies result and it had brought it down to 1:8. So no doubt I would have had to do a CVS again like I had to with my last pgcy. They had told me that as far as they were concerned that my risk was low and that they advised that there was no need for further testing. So we didnt. Yet I know how much it plays on your mind.
I have to say, it was such a relief in the end after that NT scan.
Im so glad that your little bub's problem with the ventricles had resolved, what a relief for you. It wont be long now for the both of us, we will be meeting our little ones really soon. I have to say I am so very nervous though. Im so glad the hospital is treating you well, thats great. Ive had two VB's and 3 c/s's, this is my 4th c/s. I had been waiting for the talk from the Dr's and kept missing it until last appt. where they say, what form of contraception to you plan on choosing, heading towards "Would you like us to tie your tubes. lol" I have told them I dont want them doing anything with my tubes, which she was really fine with. So hopefully no more talks about that in the future. lol.

Ohh and they dont want me to go into labour, if i do go into labour they will do an emergency c/s straight away. My c/s experiences havent been too bad, my first c/s was after many hours of labour and only getting to 8cm's dialated and me starting to thicken, close and bubs stressing. I actually didnt feel too bad after that c/s until I got home and all the meds had worn off, then had pains travelling down my lower back and leg. Still get it now, but more when the weather is cooler. My second c/s was an emergency c/s too after going into labour before the booked date. the recovery from that was alot better than the first. The 3rd was done on the booked date, yet this one I ended up having not only the catheter, but also a leak bag for the blood they couldnt stop in surgery. that was attached still even after the catheter was taken out a few days later and didnt get removed until about day 5. Yet the recovery again wasnt too bad. Just hoping not to have the leak bag again this time. Wasnt very fun having it removed, and they had told the MW's that when it is to be removed that pain releif etc was to be given 20min beforehand, well they didnt do that, and this MW just decided to take it out without it, which they say can cause shock to the patient when removing it, as what I can remember anyway, yet thankfully I wasnt too bad when it was being removed, but the meds would have been nice to have though.
This one will be booked again, yet as to when still up in the air.

[csab]

hi all and thankyou, but today wasnt as great as what I would have liked and hoped for.

Bub is sitting at the 7th percentile.

Heres the comparison to 3wks ago.

BPD was at the 5th percentile and is now well under the 5th percentile.
HC was at the 40th percentile and now sitting at the 35th percentile.
AC was less than the 5th percentile, yet thankfully the only one that has improved is now at the 6th percentile.
FL was at the 19th percentile and now sitting at the 8th percentile
est fetal weight was 1203g at the 8th percentile and is now 1659g and at the 7th percentile.

They want to rescan in 2wks, yet I am anxious already.

They think that the BPD could be due to the position of bub, and may be inacurate, but the Dr wasnt the one that did the u/s it was a normal sonographer today, which I was a bit uneasy about. Would have been nice if the same DR had done the scan, yet he wrote the notes. sigh.

Saw the baby dr / OB who decided to tell me that he didnt want to worry me, but with bubs growth bub may have DS. I then replied and said that there has been no soft markers whatsoever. he then replied and said there doesnt need to be any softmarkers. (this ended up really worrying me, I feel so upset right now) I keep mentioning my last bub and how small she is, and how she is fine just small. Anyway Im hoping that my bub is perfectly healthy. He did say bub maybe just small.
Ohh and mentioned the headaches which he checked the BP and said it is rising alittle but still ok, yet wants me to see the GP on Thursday and Saturday to have the BP checked. He then also mentioned that if I have anymore headaches that are like what I have been experiencing to call the birthing suite so they can monitor me. He also had me do some BT's.

Then it was time to see the physcisian (sorry spelling) He looked back at little V's records and seems to think this bub is following V's patterns but said nothing we can do just try not to stress. Well yeah thats easier said than done. He wants me to see him in 4wks, wants me to have a rest from the DR's appts. Wow one Dr makes a huge difference.

The OB wants to see me next week, but again something different each time with delivery times. He goes on to say that he thinks 40wks would be fine then maybe 38-39wks due to c/s's. However he wants to see the next u/s to see how bub is going and also to keep an eye on me. He said if bub needs to arrive or something is wrong with me, or the both of us then he will deliver.

So there you have it, still none the wiser about delivery, yet when I wanted to be left until 40wks they were stressing, then they stress me and they want to push it back. I was feeling very excited about meeting bubs and now I just cant be excited anymore. I am praying that bubs is healthy and the next u/s in two weeks shows some great growth. I am so worried about being stressed out even more now and when bub arrives. I was put through so much with Little V, I just dont want to go through that again.

Im so sorry everyone for the downer. I think my lack of sleep is just going to get worse now. Hugs all Ohh and BSL's have been all over the place too, so getting annoyed with that as well. hugs

[thecolourbrown]

Csab - I am so sorry you had such a stressful doctors visit. It makes me stressed reading it as I know exactly that feeling when they start mentioning ds and problems. It is just so horrible, I really feel for you. They did always tell me that there is 20% leeway with measurements via ultrasound, and I am a firm believer in every baby is individual & grows in its own rate. With soft markers for ds I think it is 80% that is picked up on u/s. Combine that with NT results and it means that mostly it is picked up - that is what they told me anyway. I think if your previous baby was very small and it is all following along similar lines you are probably right to assume that you just have another little one in there. Otherwise worrying about issues can drive you nuts. Well, it drove me nuts anyway. There is nothing really anyone can say which is 100% reassuring, I think I just decided to stop panicking at some point as stress would be bad for the baby and going around in circles in my own head without having an answer and worrying is just exhausting. Not that it is easy to put out of your mind either, but once a friend told me her NT result were 1:4 for d/s (her daughter was born without any issues at all), it helped a little. Another friends baby only weighed 2.5 kg at full term and is also fine (now at 6 months old is in the 100th percentile, the chubbiest baby ever!) - but they didn't have ultrasounds so didn't know there was any issue. Sometimes I think we know too much.

You asked me what my NT scan results were - it was actually very good. around 1:1900 and I am 39 so I was pretty happy with that. Once they found the VM it bought the risk up by a factor of 9, so I am now sitting on 1:200 for d/s. I think the other trisomies are fairly ruled out now as there has been no other signs (but at the time it was all chromosomal errors that we were afraid of). I would have had a CVS or amnio earlier if I thought there was a problem, but it was too late by the time we found out all this stuff - 22 weeks.

Hopefully your next scan will show bubs having a bit of a growth spurt. Please feel free to PM me anytime.

Andrea
x

ps. hope the GD is going OK, I am now released from the Diabetes clinic and only have to test 3 days a week. Yay!

[csab]

Thankyou Andrea, it really is exhausting isnt it. I am so over the u/s's. I hold my breathe each and every time, then waiting for them to either give you good news or bad. It is doing my head in thats for sure. Sometimes i feel like i am going out of my mind. They put me through so much with my Little V, telling me that i had a 1:28 chance of her having DS, yet she is just petite. I also had a cvs done with her early on, yet this time they said I had a 1:408 chance and that they classed me as low risk and that I shouldnt bother with further testing. Yet I tell you, right now i think maybe I should have done the cvs again. Yet I listened to them. i cant believe that I had actually got to a point in this pgcy that I could connect and be excited about bub, yet now it is just dampened.
Im so glad your no longer needing to go to the diabetes clinic thats great, unfortunately my bsl's are all over the place and most the time arent looking good. The stress isnt doing it any favours either. Thanks hun, I will keep praying and having everything crossed for the both of our bubs. I guess will we know soon enough and hopefully we will both get good news. hugs